Life-preserver suit.



L. V. KEVICZKY. LIFE PRESERVER sun.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 12. 1918.

I Patented Dec. 51, 1918.

A TTUHNE Y L. V. KEVICZKY.

LIFE PRESERVER sun.

APPLlCATlON HLED OCT. I2. 1918- n Patented Dec. 01, 1918.

9 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

ATTORNEY WITNESS LASZLO v. KEVICZKY, on NEW YORK, N. Y.

LIFE-PRESERVED; SUIT.

Application filed October 12, 1918.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LAszLo V. KEvIczKY, M rolling up,

a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York city, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Life-Preservcr Suits, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to life preserver suits and has particular reference to an improved construction and arrangement whereby the weight is reduced and ingress and. egress facilitated, while at the same time providing a suit which will be protected against the entrance of water through the closure.

A one piece suit adapted to cover the entire body from the feet to the neck is best adapted for a life preserver, as well as to retain the warmth of the body, since with ordinary life preservers victims of marine disasters often succumb to exposure, even though kept afloat. For purposes of protection to the wearer, as well as furnishing buoyancy, both one-piece and two-piece sults have been proposed. The difiiculty heretofore with one-piece suits has been in the closure, and various forms of what are practically bags provided with arms and legs have been proposed. Some have been provided with metallic arrangements for opening and closing, Which are objectionable because of the weight and the complication, while at any time subject to failure if the metal parts become deformed in handling or in use. Other forms of one-piece suits have been proposed in which there is little or no metal, but I have found these objectionable because of the excess of material which must be properly disposed and closed tight around the neck, which tends to hamper freedom of movement, or else the closure is not reliable.

Two-piece suits are not generally subject to the objection of excess material or weight of metal parts, but require complicated closing arrangements and are liable to be improperly put on in an emergency.

According to this invention I have provided a suit into which the wearer can enter from the top, and can then securely close himself in in such manner that there will be no leakage of water around the neck, nor excess material which will obstruct his movements. I accomplish this by providing the suit with an interior front opening for permitting quick ingress in combination with Specification of Letters Patent.

a bellows covering the opening and arranged so that the bellows can be compacted, as by itself, the bellows being held in this compacted position to maintain both closures, by external fastening means. For the purposes of a. l1fe preserver, the body portion will be provided with the usual buoyant jacket, but for uses on land such as coast patrol, or where buoyancy is not desired, this will be omitted, as will also the usual weights in the feet for holding the wearer upright in the water.

The accompanying drawings show a preferred form of the invention in which Figure 1 is a view showing the suit closed,

Fig. 2 is a sectional view with the bellows front open,

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the collar,

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 55 of Fig. l,

Fig. 6 is a back view,

Fig. 7 is a detail plan view,

Fig. 8 is a side elevation ready to close,

Figs. 912 show successive steps in closing, and i Fig. 13 shows the buoyant jacket.

; 1 is the main body'of the suit having the slit front opening 2, the suit being provided with sleeves 3, legs 4 and feet 5. The sleeves may have elastic cuffs 6 or integral mittens, as desired. In a life preserver suit such as herein described, the feet 5 are provided with weights and are fastened across the instep by straps 7.

On the meeting edges of the body 1 are attached fasteners such as snap books 10, or adjustable buckles and straps for loosely closing the body of the suit and positioning it on the wearer. These fastenings will preferably be simple and capable of being quickly closed. The elastic collar 12 is closed under tension around the neck by a socket member 13 cooperating with one or to both close the neck as well as I more head members 14, as shown in Fig. 7.

ends of collar 12 is the flexible cloth bellows 17 having its upper edge at or about the level of the top of the collar 12. The bellows is made of such size as to open up sufliciently when fastenings are released to permit the wearer to enter or the neck. At least one edge of the bellows 17 carries a folding over flap 18, which folds 10, then'rolled tightly over to seal the top of the bellows. If desired, the remaining edge may carry a similar but shorter fiap 19 to be inclosed by the flap 18, and which gives additional security against leakage. are brought together and covered by the flap, as in Fig. 9, which practically closes the suit except at the opposite corners of the flap" 18, as seen in Fig. 9. The'flattened bellows is'now doubled on itself as in Fig. using the neck end as a kind of fulcrum, as in Fig. 11, and finally flattened down and fastened by straps 21, as in Fig. 12. The lower straps 21 are firmly secured to the rubber cloth body 1, and the upper strap is likewise firmly mounted on the extensions 16. Although a tight closure may be made without employing either of flaps 18, 19, or the fastenings 13, 14, and without first folding over the bellows as in Fig. 10, by simply gathering the bellows together and rolling it around the neck as a fulcrum, and additional security against leakage is provided by folding over a flap and then folding the bellows before rolling. As will be seen, this brings the openings in the upper edge of the bellows at or above and close to the neck, and the inturning and pressure caused by the rolling up of the bellows insure a tight closure with varying sizes of neck. Theelasticity of the collar 12 and cape collar 15 permits additional yielding about the neck where necessary. An inelastic cloth collar can be closed in the same way, but I prefer the additional tension produced by rollingthe bellows against an elastic collar. The suit will be tight even if the bellows is not folded up, as long as its top is above water, and setting of the top strap21 after rolling completes the closure, the lower straps being intended to flatten the roll against the body of the wearer. The fastenings 13, 14, are of advantage in enabling the wearer to give better attention to the folding and rolling of the bellows. When rolled and flattened, thebellows occupies little space and does not at all impede the movements of the wearer.

The buoyant jacket shown in Fig. 13 consists of cloth padded with fiber and is preferably attached to the interior of the suit, the fiber being so disposed as to give the .lesiredcenter of buoyancy with the wearer tages practically upright in the water.

A suit constructed according to this invention has a number of practical advanover suits heretofore on the market,

leave the suit through The edges of the bellows the closure.

among which may be mentioned the elimination of metallic frames with consequent saving in weight and cubic capacity required for storage, and. also because of the simple and eflective closure which is practically fool-proof. In time of emergency, ordinary unskilled users are likely to do the wrong thing, and this possibility is reduced to a minimum .by the construction herein disclosed. Another advantage is that. the closure is effective with different sizes of neck, since the wearer can roll the bellows tight enough to feel the pressure without making himself uncomfortable and will be certain that water will be excluded. The provision of an elastic or inelastic collar with the interior fastenings 13, 14 adjusted to fit the neckcomfortably is of advantage in that the wearer can firstclose the collar and will then be able to roll the bellows with the requisite force and fasten it, so that it will not admit water, whereas without the collar fastened to fit the neck, the wearer will ordinarily use one hand to hold the collar together, while folding up and rolling the 90 bellows with the other hand until the ten-* sion due to the rolling is sufficient.

The invention is not to be restricted to the precise details herein shown as various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed, isz.

1. In .a water tight suit, a body portion having an opening extending from the neck downwardly, a flexible bellows attached to the body at each side of said opening of sufficient width in conjunction with the neck to passthe body of the wearer when ex-' tended, said bellows being constructed to be rolled relatively to the neck opening to form a tight closure of both the bellows and the neck with varying sizes of neck, and means for holding the bellows rolled to maintain 2. In a water tight suit, a body portion having an opening extending from' the neck downwardly, a flexible bellows attached to the body at each side of said opening of suflicient width in conjunction with the neck to pass the body of the wearer when extended, said bellows being constructed to be folded over across the top and rolled relatively to the neck opening to form a tight closure of both the bellows and the neck with varying sizes of neck, and means for bolding the bellows. rolled to maintain the closure. 3. In a water tight suit, a body portion having an opening extendingfrom the neck downwardly, a flexible bellows attached to the body at each side of said opening of sufficient width in conjunction, with the neck to pass the body of the wearer when'extended, said bellows being constructed to be closed 130 the tension,

across the top by a foldable portion and then doubled to bring the outer end of the fold adjacent the neck and lastly rolled relatively to the neck opening to form a tight closure of both the bellows and neck with varying sizes of neck, and means for holding the bellows rolled to maintain the closure.

4. In a water tight suit, a body portion having a separable elastic edge and a bellows portion to permit entering, means for fastening the elastic ortion under tension around the body of t e wearer, means enabling the bellows to be rolled about the point of fastening as a fulcrum to increase and means for holding the bellows rolled.

5. In a water tight suit, a body portion having a bellows, means for holding the body portion under tension while the bellows is rolled about the point of fastening, and means for holding the rolled bellows in vertical position against the body.

6. In a water tight suit, a body portion having anopening extending from the neck downwardly, a flexible bellows attached to the body at each side of the opening of sufficient width in conjunction with the neck to pass the body of the wearer, a flap for folding over to close the top of the bellows, the closed bellows being adapted to be compressed against the body, and means for holding the bellows compressed to maintain the neck and bellows closed.

7. A water tight suit comprising a body having an opening for entering, an elastic collar around the end of the body, means for fastening the collar under tension, a flap adapted to cover the edges of the bellows, and means for holding the bellows rolled with its openings adjacent the top of the body portion.

8. A water tight suit comprising a body having an opening for entering, means for fastening the collar under tension, a flap adapted to cover the bellows, and means for holding the bellows opening rolled with its outer end adjacent the top of the body portion.

9. In a 'water tight suit, an elastic open collar having means for holdin it fastened under tension, anda bellows a apted to be rolled for closing the collar opening.

10. A water ti ht suit comprising a body portion open at t ant jacket within the body, means for fastening the body and jacket loosely, means for fastening the collar under tension, a bellows covering the opening, the bellows being adapted to be folded and rolled about the collar fastening as a fulcrum, and fastening means for the rolled bellows.

11. In a water tight suit, a body, an elastic open collar having means for holding it fastened, an elastic cape collar carrying the collar, the cape collar being cut away at the front and attached to upward extensions of the body, a bellows covering the openin and attached to the edges of the body an said extensions,

and means holding the bellows closed.

Signed at New York city, in the county of- New York and State of e neck and front, a buoy- 

